Douglas kindergarten evacuated; boiler blamed for carbon monoxide

Monday

Mar 17, 2014 at 10:39 AMMar 17, 2014 at 9:17 PM

By Linda Bock TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

DOUGLAS — The Douglas Municipal Center, which houses the town's Early Childhood Learning Center, was evacuated Monday morning after people in the building on Depot Street reported smelling an odor and complained of headaches and feeling sick.

Emergency crews from at least 10 towns took more than a dozen kindergartners, a teacher and a high school senior who is an intern in the center to area hospitals with elevated levels of carbon monoxide, according to authorities.

Complaints of the odor started about 8:15 a.m., especially in the area of the second-floor classrooms. The municipal center and gym are on the first floor, and the police station and utilities are in the basement.

Fire Chief Kent Vinson said kindergartners and staff were quickly moved from their classrooms to the gym and tested for carbon monoxide exposure. After emergency responders found “very elevated” readings in a number of children, Chief Vinson said, he made the decision to call a Mass Casualty Incident and institute emergency response protocols.

“It was a no-brainer once we saw the levels,” Chief Vinson said. “I would rather give your child the highest level of care than to be cavalier about it.”

A malfunctioning oil boiler in the basement was the cause of the odor, according to Chief Vinson. The building has no carbon monoxide detectors, he said.

“It's something we'll be taking a look at,” Town Administrator Michael J. Guzinski said. Carbon monoxide detectors are not required by law, he said, and none of the municipal buildings in town has carbon monoxide detectors; however, he will confer with the town's public safety officials to examine the possibility of installing detectors.

State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said Monday night that current state law on detectors, commonly referred to as Nicole's Law, was passed in 2005 in light of the death from carbon monoxide poisoning earlier that year of a 7-year-old Plymouth girl. The law only covers residential buildings, he said.

Still, the fire marshal said, he fully supports an expansion of the law to cover other buildings, including schools, and has officially supported several pieces of legislation making the devices required. He also noted that the owner of Massachusetts-based Legal Seafoods has said he wants tougher carbon monoxide detector requirements in light of the death of a store manager at the restaurant's Long Island, N.Y., location earlier this year.

He said it only makes sense to have the detectors in places such as schools where there is a high concentration of people. He said most new schools being built typically have carbon monoxide detectors included in their designs.

“It's important that we promote that kind of protection beyond those buildings that we sleep in,” Mr. Coan said.

There were 77 kindergartners in classes Monday, and four children were absent, according to Douglas School Superintendent Nancy Lane.

A half-dozen children were immediately taken to hospitals, and the rest were placed on school buses and taken to Douglas Elementary School on Davis Street, where their blood levels were monitored throughout the morning.

Mia Darling, 6, said her teacher told the class, “We're going on a field trip.” Her mother, Vanessa Darling, rushed to the school to pick up her daughter after receiving a call from the school. She said the children all appeared to be happy as they ate lunch in the library while waiting for their parents to pick them up.

Kevin Anderson said his wife received a call from the center Monday morning that students were being evacuated. He was on his way there when he received another call that his 6-year-old daughter was being taken to the hospital.

“It's every parent's biggest nightmare to say that your kid's being transported to a hospital,” Mr. Anderson said. “It's a very scary morning.”

Mr. Anderson spoke from Harrington Hospital in Southbridge, where his daughter was alert and “in good spirits.”

“She's got both of her parents with her. She's a little shaken up,” he said.

The building was thoroughly aired out, and the oil burner was repaired by midday. Police Chief Patrick T. Foley said officials were working on getting heat restored to the building. He said he would follow up with all employees who were working in the building, as well as employees who worked over the weekend.

“Considering it was over 75 children, over 80 with adults, the incident went very smoothly,” Chief Foley said.

Mr. Guzinski said the building was reopened at 1 p.m., and he fully anticipated the children would be back in their kindergarten classes at the municipal center Tuesday.

“The air is fine, and the boiler has been fixed,” Mr. Guzinski said. “We are going to be regularly testing the air.”

Josey Warblow said her daughter, Mia Morales, 6, told her when she picked her up that there had been a “funny smell” at the center.

Chief Vinson said he made the initial call to send children with elevated levels of carbon monoxide to area hospitals. Once parents could be reached, he said, it was up to the parents to decide whether they wanted their children evaluated at a hospital.

“In the beginning, if we had a reading, we sent them,” Chief Vinson said.

Chief Vinson said he also anticipated that a number of parents would contact their children's pediatricians.

All of the children were conscious and alert, according to Chief Vinson.

The highest carbon monoxide level recorded was 15 parts per million, according to an official. Ms. Lane said she was told that people start to exhibit symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning with a level of about 9 ppm. Emergency workers used hand-held oximeters to measure the levels of carbon monoxide in the blood.

Many parents at the elementary school were grateful at how the incident was handled by emergency responders and by school officials who contacted them promptly.

“I think it's been great,” especially the way the children were kept calm, said Danielle Brochu, who picked up her daughter and her daughter's friend.

Carrie Dickerman said her daughter, Amber Borowski, was released to her after she recorded two readings of zero.

“I was shaking all the way down,” Ms. Dickerman said after she claimed her daughter and walked up the hill back to her car. She was so anxious to see her daughter she left for the center without a coat and was only wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt in the frigid weather. “I'm relieved she's OK.”

Chief Vinson said the oil burner equipment was being checked on a regular basis before Monday's incident.